UPDATE 1-TMX writes down options investment, posts quarterly loss

Reuters Staff

2 Min Read

(Adds detail on results, CEO comment)

TORONTO, Aug 7 (Reuters) - TMX Group Ltd, the operator of the Toronto Stock Exchange, took a massive writedown on its U.S. options investment that pushed it to a net loss in the second quarter, but its adjusted profit rose 13 percent on flat revenue.

The company said on Thursday that revenue for issuer services and information services grew, but gains were offset by slips in trading and clearing revenue for cash and derivative markets.

Technology services also took a hit, mostly due to a TMX company losing the contract to run SEDAR and other market databases early this year.

"We continue to focus on new initiatives to further diversify our business and deliver increased value to our customers," Tom Kloet, the retiring chief executive, said in the earnings release.

Kloet had planned to step down in August, but sources told Reuters earlier on Thursday that his successor has not yet been selected and he would likely stay longer.

He confirmed that the search committee was still looking.

Along with the Toronto bourse, the company owns the Montreal derivatives exchange and the small-cap TSX Venture Exchange, where listings are heavily weighted toward the resource sector.

The second-quarter net loss attributable to shareholders was C$26.4 million, or 49 Canadian cents per share, compared with a profit of C$25.5 million, or 47 Canadian cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue was flat at C$182.3 million.

Excluding a C$128.4 million pre-tax non-cash impairment charge related to its Box U.S. options business and other costs, the company earned C$1.01 per share.

Analysts, on average, expected earnings of C$1.03 a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. (Reporting by Alastair Sharp; Editing by Ken Wills and Leslie Adler)